Raúl Castro

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (/ˈkæstroʊ/ KASS-troh; Latin American Spanish: [raˈul moˈðesto ˈkastɾo ˈrus]; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.

One of the military leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Castro served as the minister of the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. His ministerial tenure made him the longest-serving minister of the armed forces. Castro was also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, the highest decision-making body, from 1965 until 2021.

Because of his brother's illness, Castro became the acting president of the Council of State in a temporary transfer of power from 31 July 2006. Castro was officially made president by the National Assembly on 24 February 2008, after his brother, who was still ailing, announced on 19 February 2008 that he would not stand again. He was re-elected president on 24 February 2013. Shortly thereafter, Castro announced that his second term would be his final term, and that he would not seek re-election in 2018. He stepped down from the presidency on 19 April 2018 after his successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected by the National Assembly following parliamentary elections. Castro remained the first secretary of the Communist Party; he was still considered the de facto leader of the country, retaining oversight over the president. Castro announced at the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which began on 16 April 2021, that he was retiring. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was voted in on 19 April.

Castro was also the head of the constitutional reform commission, and continues to have a seat representing Santiago de Cuba's Segundo Frente municipality in the National Assembly.

Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba, the legal son of a Spanish immigrant father, Ángel Castro who was 55 at the time of his birth, and a Cuban-born mother of Canarian parentage, Lina Ruz. Raúl is the youngest of three brothers: Ramón, Fidel, and himself. He also has four sisters: Angela, Juanita, Emma, and Agustina. Ángel Castro's first wife, Maria Argota, also raised five legal half-siblings of Raúl: Pedro Emilio, Maria Lidia, Manuel, Antonia, and Georgina.

As children, the Castro brothers were expelled from the first school they attended (Colegio La Salle) in Santiago de Cuba. Like Fidel, Raúl later attended the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Havana. Raúl as an undergraduate studied Public Administration at the University of Havana since 1950, but he did not graduate. Whereas Fidel was an excellent student, Raúl turned in mostly mediocre performances. Raúl became a committed socialist and joined the Socialist Youth, an affiliate of the Soviet-oriented Popular Socialist Party, the island's Communist party. The brothers participated actively in sometimes violent student actions.

In 1953, Raúl served as a member of the 26th of July Movement group that attacked the Moncada Barracks; he received a 13-year prison sentence and spent 22 months in prison as a result of this action. During his subsequent exile in Mexico, he participated in the preparations for the expedition of the boat Granma to Cuba.

When the Granma landing failed and the 82 expeditionaries were detected by government troops soon after, Raúl was one of only 12 fighters who managed to reach a safe haven in the Sierra Maestra mountains, forming the core of the nascent rebel army . As Fidel's brother and trusted right-hand man and given his proven leadership abilities during and after the Moncada attack, he was given progressively bigger commands. On 27 February 1958 Raúl was made comandante and assigned the mission to cross the old province of Oriente leading a column of guerrillas to open, to the northeast of that territory, the "Frank País Eastern Front".